Song By Song

We reach the apex of the album (and perhaps the best exemplar of this era of Waits) as Jon, Sam and Martin dig into the portentous imagery of this song as well as some of the real consequences of life on the street. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Rain Dogs, Rain Dogs, Tom Waits (1985) Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet - 5. Tramp and Tom Waits with full Orchestra, Bryars - Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet, Gavin Bryars/Tom Waits (1971/1993) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

The lyrical richness of Waits’s writing moves into the foreground again as Jon, Martin and Sam deal with the sense of loss and isolation found in this track, as well as in Jon’s feature film Frank. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Time, Rain Dogs, Tom Waits (1985) If I Should Fall From Grace With God, If I Should Fall From Grace With God, The Pogues (1988) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

Song by Song welcomes Jon Ronson to the show to discuss the way Waits inspires an image of a world beyond Cardiff, Wales. With the division between the heart and the head, as related to Waits vs. Springsteen, as well as a possible dairy-based spin-off show, we continue our meander through Rain Dogs. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Hang Down Your Head, Rain Dogs, Tom Waits (1985) Thundercrack, Live Version (via YouTube), Bruce Springsteen (1973) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

For our final week with Eric Molinsky we discuss a Sesame Street crossover, oblique western storytelling, the dreamlike landscapes of Waits’s worlds, and the power of group singing folk music. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Diamonds & Gold, Rain Dogs, Tom Waits (1985) Deep Blue Sea, The Complete Bowdoin College Concert, Traditional/Pete Seeger (1960) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

For a second week with Eric Molinsky, Martin and Sam take a look at the image of police as both a mortal figure as well as an existential threat, as well as Waits’s role (through his music) as an ambassador for the strangeness of his worlds. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Big Black Mariah, Rain Dogs, Tom Waits (1985) Sound of da Police, Return of the Boom Bap, KRS-One (1993) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

As they continue through Rain Dogs, Martin and Sam are joined by Eric Molinsky of the Imaginary Worlds Podcast. Discussion focuses not only on the songwriting of Waits, but also the talk-show stylings of David Letterman, the idea of stepping into character for both songs as well as promotional appearances, and the Harvard witticisms of another singing Tom. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Tango Till They're Sore, Rain Dogs, Tom Waits (1985) The Masochism Tango, An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer, Tom Lehrer (1959) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or usin

Back in the studio, Sam and Martin regroup briefly for a discussion of some of the features in this fourth track from Rain Dogs. More magpie work from Waits, cherry-picking children’s rhymes and pirate songs, as well as the unique guitar stylings of Marc Ribot in both collaboration and his solo work. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Jockey Full of Bourbon, Rain Dogs, Tom Waits (1985) Fat Man Blues, Silent Movies/Live Version, Marc Ribot (2010) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

For our third week at the London Podcast Festival, John and Helen help us pick apart some of the exaggerated family narratives at play in this third track from Rain Dogs. Waits's preoccupation with the exoticisation of deformity, the vocal effect of gauze scissors, and Helen's Aunty Susan all help wrap up our first set of live shows - thanks to everyone who came along! Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Cemetery Polka, Rain Dogs, Tom Waits (1985) Lah-Di-Dah, Jake In The Box, Jake Thackray (2006/1967) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services whic

Returning for a second week of live shows, Helen, John, Sam, Martin and the rest of our London Podcast Festival audience dig into the next track from Waits’s 1985 album Rain Dogs. With discussion of intertextuality with songs from the 1960s, debate around culture vs cultural reference, as well as some of the sexual extremity of Waits breakfast choices, Song by Song continues with season 10. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Clap Hands, Rain Dogs, Tom Waits (1985) The Clapping Song, The Clapping Song… and more, Shirley Ellis (2016/1965) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buyin

Returning for season 10, Song by Song throws its hat into the live arena in a conversation with John Hodgman and Helen Zaltzman, recorded as part of the London Podcast Festival 2017. In this first of three special episodes, Martin, Sam, Helen and John discuss Singapore, the first track from Waits's 1985 classic, Rain Dogs. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Singapore, Rain Dogs, Tom Waits (1985) Sausolito, Western Union Band, Western Union Band (2003/1972) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen respon

Closing off season nine, Købi, Sam and Martin take a look at this final instrumental track from Swordfishtrombones, the musical outlook of the album in general, and fumble their way through an analysis of the work of John Cage. (Note: mention in the episode of Schopenhauer should be Schoenberg) Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Rainbirds, Swordfishtrombones, Tom Waits (1983) Sonata No. 6, Sonatas And Interludes For Prepared Piano, John Cage/Boris Berman (1946-48/2001) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue -

As Swordfishtrombones winds down, Waits ramps up the tension with a breakneck chase sequence, while Købi, Martin and Sam rush to keep up with the pace. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Trouble's Braids, Swordfishtrombones, Tom Waits (1983) Seven Steps To Heaven, Seven Steps To Heaven, Miles Davis/Victor Feldman (1963) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

With respect but no great love, Købi, Sam and Martin dig into Waits's return to the New Orleans blues style, with particular reference to the guitar playing of Fred Tackett. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Gin Soaked Boy, Swordfishtrombones, Tom Waits (1983) In A Town Like This, In A Town Like This, Fred Tackett (2003) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

Købi Omenaka joins Song by Song for these final tracks of Swordfishtrombones as Waits (and Paul Young) pick through the detritus of a man's life. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Soldier's Things, Swordfishtrombones, Tom Waits (1983) Soldier's Things, The Secret Of Association, Paul Young, (1985) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

A celebration of playing instruments that aren't tuned properly, Waits launches himself into his crazed preacher persona, reaching back into traditions of gospel and blues. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Down, Down, Down, Swordfishtrombones, Tom Waits (1983) It's Nobody's Fault But Mine, It's Nobody's Fault But Mine - The Best Of, Blind Willie Johnson (1925/2010) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

Some genuine detailed discussion this week (instead of the usual tangential nonsense) as Sam and Martin question the divide between the political and the personal. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Swordfishtrombone, Swordfishtrombones, Tom Waits (1983) A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan (1963) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

100 episodes! (Sort of.) Martin and Sam fly solo to talk about some of the many complex and intricate question which surround this bleak little story of a man and his dog. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Frank's Wild Years, Swordfishtrombones, Tom Waits (1983) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

Our two regular suckers return with guest Jo Neary to pick through the opening track of the second half of Swordfishtrombones. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Just Another Sucker On The Vine, Swordfishtrombones, Tom Waits (1983) Rocket, Future Shock, Herbie Hancock (1983) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

From Mr Rogers, via The Burbs and XTC through to In The Heat Of The Night, Jo, Sam and Martin go through every single diversion possible on this week's episode of Song by Song. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: In The Neighbourhood, Swordfishtrombones, Tom Waits (1983) Bungalow, Nonsuch, XTC (1992) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

Pipes at the ready, Jo, Martin and Sam head to the Australian outback for this week's track, celebrating (for once) a community completely devoid of alcohol. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Town With No Cheer, Swordfishtrombones, Tom Waits (1983) There Is A Town, Nocturama, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (2003) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.